Our little secret
by MistressKimba
Summary: Sasuke has a secret...before a certain dobe finds out about it! But is it such a bad thing? sasukexnaruto
1. Our little Secret

JUST a little disclaimer to say I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters although i wish that i did :(

* * *

He stood outside, breathing anxiously as he gazed at the prices list, trying to look like he was browsing... luckily not many of his fangirls ventured into this part of town, so he was partly glad for the seedy neighbourhood that the place lay in. After calming his nerves he walked in. After all, it couldn't hurt any worse than the injuries he'd had in the past right? Plus it _was_ for the guy he loved, even if that guy never found out. It could be like his own little secret, something to giggle at when the girls were chasing him around town, '_Oh_ if _only _they knew...'

Stifling a giggle and clearing his throat he explained to the guy what he wanted and lay down...

"Relax and you won't feel a thing..."

THE NEXT WEEK.

Team 7 were training in the woods again, near to the river. The sun was hot and shone over them as Kakashi trained Sakura to walk on water which left Sasuke and Naruto, who were already good at the exercise, to spar on the water. The boys had turned it into a sort of game, seeing who could make the other wet the quickest and somehow during the game, they'd ended up in just their boxers fighting. As a result Kakashi had to take Sakura further down the bank, not only because he didn't want the distraction to make the process even_slower_ but mainly because he didn't want her to lose too much blood from a nosebleed. Not to mention that it would probably kill most of the fish in the stream. Yes, Kakashi actually cared for the environment. In fact, he decided that this was his good deed for the day.

Anyways whilst Kakashi was frustratedly trying to explain the concept of water-walking to Sakura (who was too busy trying slyly to look at Sasuke's hot body to _hear_ the jist of it) Sasuke and Naruto were busy wrestling on the water, Sasuke pushing Naruto further into the water until with a sudden burst of energy, Naruto reached towards Sasuke's leg. After all, if he was going down then Sasuke-teme would have to go down with him!

They should have been too old to be playing this game really, but the sun was beating down onto their bodies and it was too hot to concentrate. Plus the area brought back memories of their days as proper rivals, back when they spent too much time trying to get one over the other to see that actually, they _enjoyed_ spending time together and had quite a bit in common. 'Plus,' Sasuke figured, ' it had helped when I had developed a _hyuge_ crush on Naruto and decided to be more 'friendly' to him...' of course this meant spending less time trying to make him feel stupid and more time trying to make him blush.

But Sasuke wasn't at all ready to admit those feelings, even if he'd wanted to. Being gay just wasn't a ninja thing and admitting it would make him feel weaker that he already felt, especially as he had a feeling that Naruto wouldn't reciprocate those feelings. So he kept it as a secret, even though all he wanted to do was to show Naruto just how much he meant to him. It wasn't easy when the last person he'd felt anything for had betrayed him and deceived him like he'd meant nothing to him. Yup, having Itachi as a brother certainly hadn't helped him to maintain any close relationships with anyone.

Anyways, on the water, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's leg. With the sharingan Sasuke had predicted this but Naruto was just a _little_ too fast for Sasuke and managed to grab onto him...by his boxers.

Nothing 'rude' was exposed and Sasuke splashed into the water but instead of whooping and gloating over this small victory Naruto simply stood above Sasuke. He'd caught a glimpse of something as Sasuke'd fell and having once been the number one noisy ninja, he couldn't just let Sasuke keep his secrets or dismiss it as his imagination...

"Sasuke, what was that _thing_ on your hip?"

Sasuke poked his head out of the water and shook his hair to get the water out...

"What was that dobe?"

"That thing I saw on your hip...what was it?"

Sasuke paled and quickly answered,

"Nothing, must have been your imagination"

"No...there _was_ something. Let me see."

This time Sasuke blushed and tried to cover it up...

"There wasn't _anything_, maybe you're seeing weird reflections on the water, baka".

'Yes...that's right...insulting Naruto always works...' Inner Sasuke crossed all his fingers and toes.

"Hmph...yeah, right, whatever" Naruto smiled an all knowing smile, quite rare for him actually, and helped Sasuke up.

Warily Sasuke took the hand, thinking that he _may_ have gotten off the hook but as he stood up, the water in his pants weighed them down and Naruto looked down to see what that colourful display had been.

Suddenly Naruto paused in pulling Sasuke up.

Sasuke looked down and quickly pulled up his pants, but the damage was done!

'shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit too soon shit now he's gonna laugh at me and think I'm stupid, God I'd better think of a good excuse for this _whilst_ looking cool, damnit I'm not sure I can do that heeeeeeeelp'

Inner Sasuke is so much better with words than outer Sasuke don't ya think?

"Anno...eeeeeer..." Sasuke blushed as he tried to explain, "You see, I used to have this pet fox..." He started, but the blush just spread more on his face. That sounded almost as bad as one of Kakashi's lame excuses! Eventually he gave up and looked away pouting, a trace of the blush still on his cheeks. "Dobe..."

But instead of running away, the blonde just laughed outright at him.

" Hahaahahahahahahahahahahaha"

Yes Naruto was using his chakra to roll around on the water, and laugh at him. Sasuke fumed. To _think_ that he fancied this idiot! What the hell was he _thinking_! Not only did the dobe not understand the significance of the fox _or_ the pain he'd gone through to get it tattooed on his hip, but he was actually taking the _piss _out of Sasuke for having it! Not only that, but the tattoo was now a permanent reminder of how stupid he'd looked in front of Naruto. Great.

Sasuke almost started building up a chidori before Naruto's laughing began to die down...

"Hehe, sorry Sasuke, it was too much for me! Who'd have thought that you'd have a pet fox anyways? Never knew you liked that sort of thing anyways..."

Then, as if he'd just seen the embarrassment on Sasuke's face it was almost like Naruto had a change of heart. The laughter died down slowly and his face softened into the kind of look that Sasuke had always dreamed was just for him, the look Naruto often wore when no-one else was looking, when he was simply admiring the beauty of nature, or cloud watching or when he watched Konohamaru graduate (yes Sasuke was spying on him...but it was training! Honestly!). After a moment, Naruto leant over to Sasuke and whispered...

"Wow you must have liked that fox a _lot_ to get a tattoo of it..."

Sasuke gulped and nodded...he really didn't know what else to do.

"Guess what? I've got a tattoo too...wanna see? You gotta promise not to show anyone or tell them about it ok? It can be our little secret. And if you don't tell about my tattoo then I promise not to tell your fanclub about yours. Deal?"

Sasuke stopped being anxious for a minute and became confused. Naruto had a tattoo? When did _that_ happen? He never thought Naruto would be into stuff like that...although to be honest loads of shinobi had tattoos of some description, although they were usually hid with some sort of illusion or makeup for missions. But still, Naruto had a tattoo?

Curiosity and the panic of his fanclub ever finding out soon got the better of Sasuke and he followed Naruto deep into the woods til they came to an old familiar clearing, mainly used for training.

Naruto stopped and turned to face Sasuke...they both stood there for a second, tension building in the air as they both got nervous. Then Naruto pulled down his boxers slightly to reveal a small, perfectly inked tattoo on his hip.

Sasuke blinked for a second before recognising it for what it was...

"You see," Naruto explained, "I found this design that I really liked...".

He blushed...yes it was _such_ a bad excuse, but Naruto had been sensing Sasuke spying on him before, so he'd understood the tattoo as soon as he'd see it. Thing is, how do you approach your best friend with such a thing?

'Oh yeah by the way you've been following me haven't you?' didn't really seem like a good conversation to be having, at least, not in Naruto's mind. Yeah he often seemed like he was slow but really, Naruto noticed everything that was going on around him. He wouldn't be able to notice so much if everyone was wary of his quick eyes all the time, and then he wouldn't have even noticed that his best friend; who incidentally was hot, had a sexy voice and understood Naruto's own loneliness perfectly, had a _major_ crush on him! However, instead of getting scared, Naruto had decided to think about it before realising that the attraction was mutual and so, a couple of months ago had gotten a little red and white Uchiha fan tattooed onto his hip bone. What he _hadn't_ seen coming, was that the Uchiha would ever get a chance to see it.

After staring a while in shock, Sasuke couldn't bear it any longer. He stepped closer and put his hand over one of Naruto's, before moving his head to Naruto's ear to whisper,

"So...you must have liked this fan a lot to have a tattoo of it..."

Naruto smiled and nuzzled Sasuke without thinking, before whispering back,

"Yeah..reminded me of someone I know..."

Sasuke looked into Naruto's eyes stunned for a minute, but they nervously reassured him that he wasn't taking the piss. No, this was for real.

As if sensing Sasuke's doubt, Naruto moved closer to Sasuke's face and looked into his eyes deeply, catching the Uchiha under his own spell before asking softly,

"So...this can be our secret then?"

Sasuke nodded and smiled as Naruto caught his lips into a soft kiss which he hadn't thought Naruto would ever be capable of, leaving traces of salt sweat and ramen taste on his tongue as he licked his lips and pulled the dobe in for more.

However their peace was broken as they heard a shriek and Sakura's shrill voice piercing through the silence, causing birds to fly out everywhere...

"Kakashi HENTAI!"

The pair smiled and stood back facing each other, hand in hand. Sasuke rolled his eyes, causing Naruto to chuckle quietly, a blush beginning to appear across his face.

"So..." began Naruto...

"Our secret..." finished Sasuke, giving Naruto another quick peck on the lips and smiling shyly before the two headed back to the river lazily. The sun was beginning to set and as they neared the bank, they heard Kakashi's monotone voice trying to dig himself out of a hole...

"Well how was I to know that your top would go see-through? Of course if you spent less time trying to perv on Sasuke-kun..."

For the moment…this could stay as their little secret.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Please feel free to r&r but no annoying comments please! Reading comments about how shit my work is does NOT count as educational or constructive! 


	2. On Tattoos

Thanks for the reviews on the first bit of this! It was going to be a one-shot until I thought of a continuation to the story...after the reviews I felt I should write more,seeing as I didn't put that it was to be a one-shot. So you know, there should be another piece to this afterwards but I'm intending to leave it as a 3- piece. This is in a slightly different tone to the previous chapter but continues from the story. It's mainly Sasuke POV and has a lil more smutbut still,barely any.  
A reminder that I do not own any of the Naruto plot or characters.Enjoy!

* * *

**On Tattoos...**

It was beginning to seem, Sasuke mused one day (whilst sitting in a familiarly oversized recliner) that his life was going to be recorded through a series of tattoos. First off was the night that he saw his parents killed before him. Even though he had turned up afterwards, his brother had made him see what had happened over and over in his mind, making each punch, each kunai and every spurt of blood hurt just as much as if he was being tormented himself. There was no visible tattoo but Sasuke knew that the images of that night were already tattooed in his mind. His first tattoo of sorts, one which marked the beginning of life as he knew it- the end of innocence and the burden of responsibility towards his dead clan.

Then came his second 'tattoo'. The one given him by Orochimaru during the chuunin exams, the one that documented another period of his life, one where nothing he did seemed good enough and no matter how hard he tried, his brother's back got further and further away, as did Naruto's. Those were the days his heart was truly filled with hatred and he began to believe everything that his brother had said to him all those years ago. For that time, hatred was akin to power and Sasuke felt weak, even when he beat Naruto to a bloody pulp and left him by the Valley of the End and even after he managed to seek out Orochimaru to gain more power. Of course he also gained more hatred, this time for Orochimaru and his ambition. It was only later that Sasuke discovered that there are two ways to gain power. One is through hatred and suffering and the other is through loyalty, determination and inner strength and light. Naruto showed him that and now, even thinking of those days brought back a slight aching in his heart where it remembered an emptiness that was once there, now filled.

It had been a couple of years since he and Naruto had 'gotten together' as such, and even more years since the time that he'd staggered wearily back to Konoha, held up by a bloodied but grinning dobe. He would never forget the strength that Naruto had lent him during the years, even before Orochimaru, before he had even begun to realise it. This time not only had Naruto given him the strength to walk away from Orochimaru and from his source of power but he had also given him the strength to help defeat the snake. It was there and then where Naruto revealed his history with the Kyuubi and Sasuke gained a life-times worth of respect and awe for the blonde. After his rehabilitation into Konoha, their friendship blossomed - each still remembering like open wounds, the ache of having lost a best friend _and _both determined not to let their pride come in the way of a new important person in their lives…which brought his attention to one of his newer tattoos marking this 'relationship'.

Not only did Sasuke begin to cherish every moment with Naruto as his best friend, but he developed a major crush on him and now he was beginning to see where it had really started, back in Team 7's genin days with the countless fights and bickering. The tattoo did not represent that though. It represented Sasuke's feelings for Naruto now. The fox may have been a symbol of hatred to many of the villagers but Sasuke associated it with his new life in Konoha, his new friends who were friends to him before but now he allowed himself to become friendly with them and also the blonde who may act stupid but who had soothed the ache in his heart. To Sasuke the fox was a sign of inner strength and burning determination, of loyalty and honesty and of course, of his love for Naruto which had pierced through the smog which had been oppressing his soul for a long time to lighten the burden of responsibility and show him that he wasn't alone anymore, he had new family and hence a new responsibility- to protect them.

And now finally, here he was, holding hands with the one he loved, staring deep into his azure eyes and gritting his teeth as he received another tattoo which would represent a new era of his life. Finally, Hokage-sama had seen fit to promote Sasuke to the noble ranks of ANBU. A rank which Naruto of course had reached a half year before…but that didn't bother Sasuke anymore. What _did_ bother him was the searing sensation of having a special symbol burned into the skin of his arm with chakra- an entirely different experience to having a conventional tattoo inked in. Instead of the bearable sensation of needle on flesh, this was more of the 'lets get a "lazer" and drag it through your arm'. Of course it was designed so that it could be activated using minimal chakra input and so would vanish upon death, but somehow Sasuke was beginning to wonder if it was worth the pain just to gain £20 more per mission and a more kick-ass reputation.

It was then that he thought that perhaps it would be an idea to make the tattoo into a much more…_enjoyable_ memory. It would involve a secret shopping trip, but he knew it would be worth it. The happiness which he shared with Naruto was far greater than any he had expected already, but this would extend it beyond his imagination.

The celebration for Sasuke's promotion kicked off at 7pm and wasn't due to finish til the early hours, or when everyone collapsed into drunken stupors. Naruto had an apron on and was flitting between being a fantastic host and murmuring drunken-horny comments into Sasuke's ear. Sasuke himself was surrounded by his former fangirls and their boyfriends/fiancées/husbands who chose to stand back a little but either way were offering their support for the promotion and for Sasuke's new lifestyle…by drinking profusely, complaining profusely and in some cases, eating profusely until Ino frogmarched Chouji outside to be sick and lectured him on the dangers of binge-eating. He came back in looking a little worse for wear but soon resumed his feasting until Ino threatened to have his stomach stapled. Everyone was rolling about laughing at this until they realised that Ino was serious and seeing the Uchiha-worthy death glare in her eyes (obviously learnt after having witnessed it so many times) the atmosphere grew sober.

Sasuke decided this was a convenient time to halt the party for a few seconds and tinkled the side of his glass until everyone was silent. He stood shakily (and drunkenly) on top of a chair and wavering, began to say what he meant to.

"Tonight we are celebrating my promotion to ANBU!" he started. Big cheer.

"BUT I didn't intend it to be just that." Silence.

" Today has marked another milestone in my life, another step towards reaching my goals, so I thought that it would be an auspicious time to take another step forward towards reaching another dream that I have held in my heart for some time now- not to restore my clan but to start a family I can call my own"

"And no Sakura…I will NOT use you for this!" Sasuke gave Sakura a teasing look and she laughed at the joke, for she had long ago given up on Sasuke and now only saw him as a friend and occasional eye-candy.

"I don't quite plan on making babies with anyone yet…for now I wish to concentrate on the family that has been here under my nose the entire time, and the possibility of making it into something more…well…this will explain"

Sasuke leapt off the chair and walked purposely towards Naruto who was still tipsy but also silent for one of the only times in his life. Sasuke kissed him deeply to make sure then dropped gracefully onto one knee and whipped out a box. He opened it to reveal a classic, platinum ring, encrusted with an onyx Uchiha fan.

"I can't say that Tsunade-baachan would allow a conventional form of marriage between us…but Naruto…"

Sasuke brought Narutos face down to his level, eyes locking in silent communication.

"Would you officially become my family…forever?"

There was silence, broken only by the 'awwing' and 'squeeing' of the ladies in the room and the faint sound of "tch…how troublesome" before Naruto pulled Sasuke up from the floor, hugged him and muttered,

"Tch! She better let us marry or I'll threaten to take after Jiraiya a little more!"

Everyone cheered and Sasuke felt his face warm up and he grinned, not smirked, and kissed Naruto passionately, twirling him around and setting him down so hard that he would have fallen over into Gaara if it wasn't for the sand defense that cushioned him. Meanwhile everyone cheered the couple on and the night was filled with even more raucious laughter than before, especially when Kakashi suggested to Iruka that they start a family and Iruka replied that he'd hate to subject children to Kakashi's idea of an 'upbringing'.

It was later that night, after all the 'celebrations' had finished that Sasuke was tracing his fingers over Narutos tanned skin in bed or more specifically, over his tattoos. He kissed them- the area where the ANBU tattoo would be….then licking down to run his tongue over the spiral seal over his tummy, making Naruto giggle and moan all in one breath and then biting down to the tiny Uchiha fan on Naruto's hip which was where he stopped, propped his head up with one arm and stared into Narutos eyes contentedly. It was late/early, but a wicked gleam came into his eyes and he started to crawl up Narutos' body….

" You know," he whispered seductively, " The Uchiha symbol is the fan which heats the flames…"

He paused.

"…of desire!"

Naruto cracked up and without consideration to who was awake or asleep at that ungodly hour, let out a hyuge bout of laughter which left him aching at the sides and with tears rolling from his eyes.

" Jesus Sasuke…" he spluttered whilst trying to control the giggling enough to speak, " You can tell that it was Kakashi who trained you! Sheeeeze…you really have absorbed his mannerisms...it was a Kakashi-sensei-ism!"

Sasuke grinned then began to kiss Naruto down his neck before whispering into his ear …

"What? Are you saying you disagree…cause I could prove it to you right now…"

And looking into Naruto's eyes he began to prove it to him…for the second time of many that night.

Tattoos were an addictive but efficient way of storing memories, he decided. Memories which could be traced on the skin and treasured inside the heart…

and he was glad that he would have the memories of Naruto imprinted on his body for the rest of his life and in his soul for eternity.

* * *

Please R&R! Although please, constructive criticism only. One more chapter to go...squeeee! xxx 


	3. A family to call our own

**Hi! I think I finished it now...phew...this chapters a long one so make sure you have a drink and a biscuit to go with it! Now before the story some replies to reviews...**

**SilverCrystal9:** I haven't any tatoos myself because Im trying to figure out that special one to get! I'm too much of a wuss myself but I'd love to be covered with loads of tattoos that mean things! You'll be glad to know there are more tattoos to come...:P

**Ichigo-dattebayo:** Last chapter done! Took ages cause of lack of internet but glad you enjoyed the last one! This probably has more mistakes cause the ideas came faster than my fingers.

**Kanemoshi:** Hehe this is sappier than the last chapter! enjoy

**BlackMystick:** Again more fans and flames and heating up in this one...see if you can spot it. I was going to make it even cheesier and take the joke further but I restrained myself a bit :)

**lilchishorty:** YES! THERE IS MOOORRRRE! see...but no more after this ok? The chapters keep getting longer and longer and my fingers hurt :(

**Mistress-starfire:** Another mistress! Yay! Glad you liked it up to here...this chapter gets a bit weird but if you ignore the plot holes and ooc-ness its all god! And...ooooh good idea for a tattooo! puts it in her book of potential tatoos I'm still entertaining the idea of an anbu tattoo...yes im sad.

**Elrothiel:** Oh god you found it! Well you better read this one or I'll slap you when i next see you ;)

**The troublesome twins:** I did update! And its really long..I was gonna break it into a ocuple chapters but thought hey why not keep it as one. It wouldn't have worked well as too anyways. Hope you like it!

**Nejigirl:** I HAD to continue! It was my destiny...and the ideas were too sappy not to continue but if you want any more sasu/naru from me you're gonna have to wait til my fingers have recovered from this story.

**Phew! Okay so all thats left for me before this chapter is to remind y'all I own none ofNaruto whatsoever, although I wish I did.**

**

* * *

**

**A family to call our own...**

"She's perfect…" thought Naruto as he kissed her softly on the forehead. Her little nose wrinkled up and she frowned a little before falling back into sleep. Sasuke leant over his shoulder and smiled at the expression, wrapping his arm about Naruto's shoulders. His eyes held a soft look to them and Naruto melted inside, just catching the look in his peripheral vision. It was obvious that this baby had found a place in Sasuke's heart too.

"We'll take her." decided Naruto. It felt right that they adopt this baby. After all, he'd been picking up countless babies this afternoon and already with this one, it was almost painful to let go of her. Especially when he heard how her parents had just abandoned her in favour of having a son. She had been neglected by everyone for a reason beyond her control…even the nurses seemed reluctant to look after her.

"You sure?" Sasuke asked. "After all…didn't you say you'd rather have a son so you could teach him lots of cool jutsu."

"Mhmm..I _did_ say that…" reasoned Naruto, "But then I saw the look on her face when the nurses were trying to change her nappy earlier. It was _such_ an Uchiha glare..I couldn't resist her!"

"Hmph". Sasuke smiled. It was nice to see the tender looks in Naruto's eyes and even he could feel that this baby was just _right_ for them. Plus he had to admit…this little girl just had a certain _something_ to her. He was quite impressed with how she held herself, even at the age of 2 months she wasn't about to give in and let the nurses make her do something which she didn't want to. Nope, she'd rather try to chew on their fingers with her gums and glare with as much passion and stubbornness as a newborn baby possibly can. He chuckled inwardly. She had a strong will, he could feel it, and this was something which he and Naruto could shape into an invincible will of fire. He turned to the nurse.

"We'll take her" He said.

"Well…okay then. But are you sure?" She leant over to him and said quietly, " You know she is a real terror even at this early age, I swear that whenever some of the nurses pick her up she vomits on purpose, just to get them back for moving her and waking her up by accident…" She stood up and smiled almost scarily,

"However, if you would like to take her off of our hands then we'd be extremely grateful…"

Sasuke and Naruto grinned at each other in a creepy way then turned back to the nurse who now seemed rather spooked out by the shared look of glee.

"We'll take her."

After the papers were signed they took her back to her new home in the old Uchiha compound. It was the ideal place for kids, lots of room to run around and play as well as space to train and to relax. Already the baby had her own room, painted plain white with clean white sheets and long net curtains and her own little wooden cot. She also had lots of toys including a stuffed fox toy, a night time light-up mobile which threw stars across the ceiling and her own chibi dark blue kimono wrap-around with the Uchiha symbol on the back, which Sasuke swore was traditional for all Uchiha children to wear and that his child would be no different.

It took a couple of days to get used to the baby. For one, mid night feeding sessions were often in order and Sasuke generally left this up to Naruto, as he was often up for midnight ramen snacks anyways, although when he caught Naruto trying to feed the baby ramen soup on the first night he insisted on leaving out the childs food before they went to sleep just in case Naruto made the 'mistake' again.

On the third night however, Sasuke and Naruto were up late discussing names for the baby. Sasuke had no idea about baby names and so was trying to let Naruto pick, but all the names that kept coming up sounded stupid.

"How about…Usagi?"

"Too stupid."

"Mika"

"Nope"

"Lulu…"

"Oh come ON!"

Naruto scrunched his face hard and you could see the concentration in his face. Sasuke was about to make a cutting remark before all hell broke loose and the cries of their daughter resounded through the compound.

"I'll get it" Naruto got up and kissed Sasuke on the lips before going to feed the baby. When he returned, Sasuke had a thoughtful expression on his face.

" You know dobe…Sakura told me something once. It was after you and I had gotten together and she wanted to take me out to lunch whilst you were on a mission. She told me that she always felt like a small weedy flower next to Ino and that you and I had given her the courage to make something out of herself and to blossom in the kunoichi she is today. And you gotta admit, Sakura is such a strong kunoichi these days, with the strength of the fifth…it's the kind of thing I thought I'd like for our little girl. Like Sakura, we can't be sure that she has any special abilities or jutsu…but I'd like it if she could be as strong a kunoichi as possible. But calling her Sakura somehow feels too stupid…"

" I know what you mean…" Naruto got into the bed and snuggled up to Sasuke. " then how about…Hana…no….Hanako."

"Hanako." Sasuke pondered then smiled, " Perfect. She may have been unwanted and treated like a useless weed in the past but in the future she will blossom into a strong and beautiful flower."

Naruto grinned. " That was the second most cheesiest thing I ever heard you say…teme"

"What? Aren't I allowed to have high hopes for my daughter?" Sasuke's face changed from a mock-serious one into a playful one. "After all, she is an Uchiha of sorts and will be expected therefore to conduct herself with the charm and attractiveness of one, as well as be able to kick the shit out of anyone who attempts to take advantage of her or try it on."

Naruto looked serious all of a sudden. " No. That'd be my job." He cracked his knuckles and gave an ultra scary look that almost had Sasuke shaking in the bed.

Then the look softened and Sasuke could see that something was troubling his dobe.

"Sasuke…" Naruto whispered. Sasuke tilted Narutos face up to meet his own.

"Mhmm?"

"Sasuke…do you ever wish that we had something to pass down to our children? I mean, you have the sharingan, but that's only passed down through birth and I haven't anything to offer our child either. Don't you ever wish that they had something to protect them, a gift to call their own and no-one elses? Sometimes….sometimes talent just isn't enough."

The downhearted look on Naruto's face told Sasuke exactly what his dobe meant…both he and Naruto had more than just talent and their colleagues were the same. Techniques had been passed down to them starting from childhood, jutsus that were in their blood to be learnt and perfected. Even Sakura, with her lack of inherent talent during her genin days still had her naturally perfect chakra control and a perfect teacher in Tsunade, who had showed her how to harness that. Not all genins were as lucky as her to have found such a teacher. Sometimes talent wasn't enough, especially if the child accidentally ended up on dangerous a and s rank missions…that had happened all too often during Naruto and Sasuke's genin days.

Sasuke pondered on this… he knew that their child had all that she needed to make it as a strong kunoichi...but it would be nice to have something other than jutsu to hand down to their family…something other than love, something to bind them outside of family life but as shinobi of Konoha. Something like a bloodline limit or specialism.

It was a difficult feeling to describe. It was painful and almost embarrassing to admit but Sasuke could understand Naruto's wish, not just for a family, but for a clan. The two weren't the same…a clan needed a specialist skill- and not just one technique. Both boys had been deprived of this kind of specialised teaching whilst growing up, and Naruto obviously felt that he needed to compensate for this emptiness in his children.

"Sasuke…?" Naruto's worried voice pulled Sasuke out of deep thought and he looked down to see Narutos eyes almost brimming over with tears.

"Shhhh…." Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto, still with a far away look in his eyes, "Sorry, I was thinking it over…but I understand perfectly. After all, neither of us were exactly normal were we? In fact we all had a special something, even Sakura eventually found her speciality."

"…mhmm…"

They sat in silence. Each of them were thinking hard. Naruto was trying to figure out why he still felt like his family needed that _something_. After all, one of Konohas favourite couples even prided themselves on the fact that they had worked their way up using nothing but sheer determination and hard work combined with what little talent nature had provided for them. He sat there feeling guilty. Why shouldn't it be enough? Surely love and careful guidance was all that they needed?

Meanwhile, Sasuke was trying to figure out a solution to their problem. What had given both Sasuke and Naruto their power? What could they offer Hanako and any future children in way of clan and heritage? Not only were both he and Naruto orphans, with no remaining clan of their own to adopt, but they were both guys. They couldn't pass down talent through their genes so any sharingan work was out of their league. Nope, this would have to be completely original, yet something shared…something that would give strength but something that didn't have to be genetically inherited. Something like…

Sasuke almost starting dancing through his mansion but instead opted for jumping up and grinning at Naruto…who sat up with an scared look on his face.

"Sasuke! What's with you teme? Why are you smiling like that…it's creepy…oh god you've gone mad haven't you! All this talk of family…please don't kill me!"

Sasuke stopped mid-grin and glared at Naruto, one eyebrow raised.

"That's not what you should be saying after the brainwave I've just had."

"Ehhhhh?"

Sasuke continued grinning.

"How to create a legacy for our clan. A way to pass down some of our power and strength. A way which isn't necessarily passed down through genes."

" For real?"

" For real."

Naruto's eyes held an incredulous look as he held Sasuke's face in his hands and looked him straight on in the face.

" How…"

"…a seal."

Sasuke answered Naruto's unfinished question.

" A….seal…"

Naruto's face contorted into many expressions as he thought the idea over. Both he and Sasuke had been given seals during their lifetimes and it hadn't been a particularly good experience for either of them.

"Not like that," Sasuke read Narutos expressions like an open book, " Somewhere between a tattoo and a curse seal and…I don't know. I got the idea thinking about something we shared. Then I remembered the horrible power that I was given through Orochimaru's curse seal…" He shuddered.

"Then I thought. If we both know so much about seals and if Orochimaru could transfer power through them then surely there must be a way to transfer good chakra through it too. Both of us use high-power jutsu which require a lot of chakra and of course, it isn't any good if our children do not have the capability to use them. We need a way to give them the raw chakra that they need. We could create some kind of 'curse seal' except it wouldn't be a curse, but a blessing. You understand?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically, "That's great…really well thought out…but how? How could we transfer this seal? I don't want to cause our children any unnecessary pain…" The thought of having to put a painful seal on Hanako hurt him inside.

"Well," Sasuke explained, " I already thought this through. I don't want to hurt our children either but then I also thought that it would be dangerous to attempt this at an early age anyways. Let's wait until Hanako is at an age where she can control her chakra. Then we can give her the seal. I've even thought of a good way to give her the seal." Here Sasuke looked smug.

"Tch…fucking genius." Still, Naruto couldn't quite contain his excitement and was bouncing on the bed.

"Tattoos."

"Tattoos?" Confusion, " But tattoos don't hold any secret power…"

"Not unless they're burnt in with chakra like your seal, and created using a written jutsu. Think of it like a summoning where the jutsu is visible like writing. It needs a lot of work but it should work something like this, with circles drawn and kanji written upon the body of whoever is to receive the seal. Then it is burnt/ sealed in with chakra. Also, that way if the bearer of the seal dies, the mark should fade away before anyone else has the opportunity to gain access to the workings of the jutsu."

"Woah…" The full potential of the idea was just beginning to make itself clear to Naruto, who was beginning to feel a bit sleepy and so, wasn't up to his usual speed.

"That's amazing Sasuke…just when did you learn so much about sealing jutsu?"

"After Orochimaru…during that whole time." Sasuke's face darkened slightly. "I did a lot of research to figure out the whole curse sealing technique, hoping to find ways to get rid of it.

"Ah. Well at least you can use it for something worthwhile now…all that research. It's really gonna pay off." Naruto kissed Sasuke tenderly on the lips and looked deep into his eyes. " You're providing both of us with a way of protecting our family, you're providing us with a clan and you're providing us with a way to make sure that noone forgets us. You've also found a way to achieve your goal. To rebuild your clan…kinda. You know, you're amazing." He kissed Sasuke full on the lips, his tongue caressing Sasuke's in a way which made him forget his dark past and see a way into the future. Yes, finally his dark past could be forgotten because he could see the reason for having gone through it. Not to defeat his brother, that was a forgotten goal, but to rebuild his family and protect those most precious to him.

Naruto finished the kiss and they held each other for a while. Both were sleepy but both were also anticipating working on this seal. However, even with all the excitement, they could feel their eyelids beginning to feel exceptionally heavy. Just before they went to sleep, Naruto turned to Sasuke lazily and asked,

" Hehe…so if it's a tattoo…what's it gonna look like? Can't have your Uchiha fan taking all the glory can we?"

Sasuke replied, eyes still closed but with a content smile on his face.

" Heh… it'd be a cross between my symbol and yours, dobe." He ruffled Narutos hair affectionately. " How about an Uchiha fan with a spiral in the middle? The Uchiha fan may fuel the fire but if you fan with all of your strength you could hope to create a whirlwind."

"Mhmm…cheesy but I like it." Naruto patted Sasuke's head, rolled over and went to sleep. It'd been less than a minute before cries were heard again and Sasuke started to poke him.

"_Your_ daughter is hungry. Or something."

With a huge yawn Naruto tumbled out of bed and trotted off to wait on Hanako's every whim and Sasuke watched from the bed.

It _would_ take a lot of work, but then he and Naruto were used to working towards their dreams. A clan to call their own was top of their priority right now but he knew that together they could accomplish all of their goals and leave a legacy for people to remember them by. Suddenly, just before his body allowed him to slip into more dreams, he realised something which made him chuckle. 'To think that it had all started with one tattoo…'

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the finale! Please R&R although I would like to remind everyone that I don't take too kindly to flames or badly put criticism. Don't put me down! If you have a suggestion please be considerate in your choice of wording. Sorry it took ages and sorry for the plot holes, OOC-ness and sapyness. Now I bid thee adieu til my next fic! God knows what that'll be about o.0**


End file.
